It’s not likely for the Marin wind to blow up to Fossano. It does arrive in Langa, where it squeezes in Val Bormida or Val Tanaro, perhaps already towards the end of the winder – the sign of an early spring – and continues until September, a shame for the vine-dressers: damp as it is, this breeze damages the vine which has an anomalous flowering and so it is said that the grapes are «Marin-ated».
All this to explain that perhaps the Marin wind didn’t get to knock on the doors of Enrico Panero in Fossano before he, still very young (he was born in January of ‘87), began his cursus honorum around the world: at Pinocchio in Borgomanero, Aimo e Nadia in Milan, Guido a Pollenzo to begin with a great Italian trio. Then, passport in hand, off he went to Lanzarote, Bilbao (Victor Arguinzoniz), New York (Mark Ladner) to enrich his education then endorsed by Eataly, first in Turin, then in Tokyo and again in New York.
Ligurian pesto tortelloni on roasted aubergines and green beans
When
Oscar Farinetti sent his enfant prodige to direct the kitchen of the gourmand restaurant of the new Genoese
Eataly, in April 2011, here came the postponed meeting with the Marin wind, right in the Porto Antico: and the wind ended up giving its name to the restaurant too. The perfect choice: here, sea offerings and local products dominate the scene, «only Italian excellent delicacies, that in our case are 80% from Liguria»,
Panero explains. What we like more than his cuisine is a certain awareness – something not common at his age – that makes him immune to formats.
He’s a pragmatic, this little chef (little in age, that is: have you seen how tall he is?!). And he divines the formula: «Surprising with simplicity: excellent raw materials hardly handled, absolute recognisability. The modern key is the reviewing and lightening of tradition». Innovation is like a 2.0 version of the memory of taste (the madeleine): nothing revolutionary, but effective and truly pleasing. Like in the
Tortelloni with Ligurian pesto on chopped aubergines and French beans, a variation on the de Zena dish
par excellence, only the basil now explodes in your mouth when you take a bite of the filled pasta, the French beans are crispy and the base (which has to be seasonal, so now there’s the more traditional cream of potatoes) gives structure and roundness: in other words, it’s one thousand times better than the original.
Enrico Panero, almost 26 years old
But this is true for all of Panero’s dishes: aromatic neatness («It derives from my Japanese experience»), careful play of textures and contrasts, even the pleasure of a chromatic divertissement that induces him to think of colourful dishes, during the summer, while on our visit we had the delicate tones that best introduce the autumn season you can see from the windows overlooking the port – a beautiful view.
Mackerel and anchovies (the mackerel is in homemade extra virgin Roi olive oil, de-li-cious, the anchovies are stuffed and fried with sage: valorising “poor fish”): this starter is a blast, even though we were really struck by the
Genova style "Braised meat in Barolo",
Gadus Morhua Baccalà (dried salt-cured codfish)
with Barolo Borgogno on a cream of potatoes, Quarantine and radicchio, masterfully matching taste and balance (there’s everything, here: sea-earth; sapid, iodate, acid, sweet and bitter notes).
Panero is ambitious («We will have all restaurants in the region involved») but keeps the prices under control. The wine list needs to be fixed: ok, we’re at Eataly’s, but who can drink all those prominent red wines from Piedmont?
Il Marin
Eataly Genova
calata Cattaneo, 15
Genova
+39.010.8698722
Tasting menu: 54 euro
No closing day
